that makes two
by she began to dance
Summary: When he was this close, he could see how obviously broken she was.


The thing about the Avatar is that you never really get the day off.

Being the Avatar, that's one thing. That's a whole road Bolin can't even imagine going down. Sometimes he stares at his ceiling and thinks about how hard it must be for Korra. For her to be so tough, so determined, so courageous amidst all the horror Republic City faced these few months. It's a miracle she's not terrified, or at least she doesn't show it.

Being the Avatar's friends, though, you still don't get the day off. You end up in jail, stay a while, and then get broken out only to find yourselves fighting and bruising more until you finally get her safe, finally get her out of harm's way. And the damage left in the wake is enough to keep you on your feet for days.

She doesn't want help, just wants to sleep. He gets it. All those years out on the streets after fighting, Mako asking if he needed this, needed that, wrapping up this arm, this leg. He understands now why Mako was so concerned, why he never settled for the fact that sometimes it was just a scratch, but he understands more, now, when it comes down to someone _he_ needs to help.

Mako never really leaves her side. Always the worrier, always the one giving orders on how to make her feel as best as she can. She's passed out half of the time, and he only stops shaking her and forcing medicine down her throat when she groans a little too loudly and slams her head against the pillow. Tenzin tries to pull him away, but he doesn't listen, just stays and waits for her to wake up so he can ask her what she needs over and over again when it's always the same old answer.

Bolin knocks on the wall to let his brother know he's in and walks over, standing behind him. His shoulders are slumped and he blinks warily at the girl lying next to him. His hand lies above her knee, not quite touching. There's a spoon in his other hand in a tight grip as if it's the only saving grace he has left.

"Bro, she'll be okay, you know. Just a few scratches."

He doesn't look up, just blinks again. His hand twitches, the one with the spoon, but that's about the only response Bolin receives. It's not like it's not true—she does have scratches and maximum exhaustion, but that's it, nothing to severely worry about. It's as if she's dying, though, his gaze never leaving her. Bolin thinks for a second, the way he's looking at her. It reminds him of a time when he got hurt and his only sick bed was the dirty ground in the middle of a dark alley.

It wasn't a huge fight, nothing a little earthbending couldn't fight off. But the scratches were bleeding and in the middle of the night, with no medicine, no blankets, nothing to help fight off infections, Mako was desperate. Bolin vaguely remembered his brother gripping his hand so hard he thought it would fall off, sometimes leaving for a few minutes, no longer, and coming back with something Bolin was afraid to swallow, but Mako made him anyway. The look in his eyes was desperate with a hint of uncertainty, but when Bolin woke Mako up the next day, earthbending the ground next to his head (a not-so-subtle alarm that he wanted him to wake up but would wait), he knew it worked and it was all he could not to cry in relief.

He knew why Mako was so concerned and he was grateful Korra had someone so protective for her. He was protective, of course. Anything threatening to hurt Korra, he would take down any time, any day, without a hint of hesitation. Not because she was the Avatar, but because she was Korra, so precious and kind and important to him. But he was so clumsy around her, blubbering on and on about things he could tell only made her feel awkward and bored, things that were all-around not important.

When Mako was there, he knew Korra would be safe. Safer than she would be with only him around. Mako was a natural at healing, a natural at protecting, so he really couldn't get so carried away at his own ideas about helping Korra on his own. It would only end badly for her, only get her more hurt.

Korra stirred then, and Mako shot up as if he'd been electrocuted. She groaned quietly and turned to her side, blinking once, twice, looking up at the brothers. She gave a quick smile before groaning again, slapping her hand to her face in pain. Mako regained his composure and offered her the spoon with some sort of liquid.

"No," Korra panted, pushing the spoon away, the liquid spilling over. Mako narrowed his eyes and looked around. "Nononono," she shook her head, gripped his hand. "Naga,"

"What?"

"I want Naga," she said simply, as if it were such a normal thing to ask for, a giant polar bear dog in the middle of the air temple.

"Naga. She's too big to fit in this room. You're hurt, Korra, you need—"

"_Mako_," she gritted her teeth in pain and Bolin caught her eyes for a second, a slight smirk playing on her lips and oh spirits, she was up to something. Even when she was recovering from an injury, she was up to something. Sometimes, Bolin thought she could be up to something without even realizing it.

"But Korra, she can't…"

"_Ten_—" her voice caught and she started coughing, gasping for air, her hand reaching past Mako, behind his shoulder. Bolin gripped it and stepped closer. Mako raised a hand to her back, and then decided she would only hurt more.

"I've got her," Bolin whispered to his brother, nodding toward the door. He looked nervously between Korra and Bolin before nodding slightly and running out the door. As soon as she heard the door close, Korra's grip loosened on Bolin's hand and she let out a low chuckle.

"F-uh-nny, how he'll do anything…"

"You didn't give him much of a choice," he grinned and sat in the chair Mako was in previously. Korra rolled slightly so she could see him better and grinned back. He looked down at their hands, still joined, then looked back at her, trying to ignore it. _Holding her hand, big deal, it wasn't going to help… _

"I've missed you,"

"O-oh. Hm. You did? I—um, hm, I.. missed you too? I—I mean, I haven't seen you for days and I'm glad you're okay. That you weren't thrown in jail or hitched on top of some satomobile and thrown around like a sack of flour, although you probably were considering the state you're in, and the way you couldn't walk when we found you, except maybe that was because you didn't have the chance to, since Mako wouldn't let you, and you're probably too exhausted to even talk right now, and—"

"Bolin, shh!" Korra laughed again and squeezed his hand. He took a deep breath and let out a nervous laugh, eyes shifting to the door, wishing through anything that Mako would come back…

"Ah," she rolled her shoulders and bit her lip. "Can I..?" her hand fell to the bottle and spoon. He scrambled to pour the liquid and hand the spoon over to her. "Don't tell Mako," she joked and reached for the spoon only to have it spill moments later.

Bolin laughed louder as she looked down at the mess angrily. He noticed her straining to admit she needed help. Her hair fell over her eyes as she flew back against the bed, poking his arm. "All right, you,"

"Here, let me…" he poured more and held the spoon above her lips. She swiped her hair back and glared at his hand, his eyes, back at his hand. She gripped his wrist and pulled him forward, controlling the spoon, taking it in her mouth. She swallowed slowly and made a face, pushing his hand away.

"Gross," she muttered. "I don't remember it being that disgusting, _spirits_,"

"Good girl," he patted her head and laid the spoon back on the table next to them. The silence that followed made him feel awkward. He never really got a time to be alone with her, didn't really know what to say when he did. Korra didn't turn away from him though, expecting him to say something, and why shouldn't he? He was supposed to be helping her, and they always said words helped, so why couldn't he think of a single thing to say?

"So, uh, Naga.. how.." _Idiot._

She laughed. She laughed at him. He made a promise to never be alone with Korra again.

"I don't expect him to get very far. He'll try to pull Naga in, but she knows she can't come in, so she won't budge, and then Tenzin will ask him what he's doing and he'll try to explain and look ridiculous while doing it, because, well, I'm the Avatar, and you have to think before you listen to me," she smirked and took his hand again. "I suspect it'll take a while longer."

"Great," he said miserably, not bothering to hide it.

Korra looked at him, confused, but didn't say anything. She patted his hand and dropped their joined hands to her side. Her finger circled his, moving over the light scars he earned recently on his knuckles. Her breath was warm, filling a sort of warmth inside of him too, and he smiled slightly, looking down. A strand of her hair fell against his arm and without thinking, he pushed it back behind her ear. He saw Korra bite her lip and then—

"AH!" he yelped, snatching his hand back, clutching it to his chest. The warmth evaporated as fast as the cold iced him over. Korra gasped in shock and went still. Drips of water clung to his shirt.

"C'mere," her voice was gentle. She took his hand again and laid it out next to her. "I was just healing…" she bent the water from a bowl behind her and it wrapped around his knuckles like a row of rings, like metal against his skin, like the chains Tarrlok's force wrapped around his wrists, and then it was burning like the glowing sticks from Amon's Equalists, sizzling and snapping against his arms, pushing him to the brink of uncertainty.

He heard whimpers and looked down at Korra in concern. She was looking up at him, though, worry etched in her eyes, and he realized he was the one whimpering and he wished he could punch some sense into himself.

"I'm sorry—" she began but he shook his head, took his hand away from her, bit his lip and laughed. Laughed at his stupidity, his awkwardness, laughed at Amon and Tarrlok for being able to do this to him, to do what they did to Korra. Korra, so strong, completely invincible in his eyes, the true hero of Republic City, the one to bring absolute peace again to the world, to him. His cheeks burned and his eyes stung but he just laughed as Korra looked at him in horror and he laughed at himself, wholly and ashamedly ridiculous for even pretending he could be okay.

"Bo," he heard Mako's voice, but it was Korra, pulling him toward her, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He was in the back of a satomobile, one that didn't promise him safety like Asami's did, one that held horror, saw horror, welcomed it. Mako sat beside him and he so badly wanted to wrap his arms around his brother, just to feel him beside him, some sort of reassurance, but his hands were behind his back and all he could do was look at him, hear him call out his nickname Mako used to call him ever since he was a baby. All he could rely on was his hearing and his sight and when one was so filled with a horror he experienced before, one he would experience again, he shut it out, cut off his senses, and maybe then he would be okay. He wouldn't see the pain, he wouldn't hear the pain, and then he wouldn't feel it.

But the biggest pain of all was held in his mind, the thought of Korra. Korra, who didn't need them to save the world, but he felt better if he was by her side anyway. Tarrlok was crazy, and Korra was determined, and she would fight him until they were free, do whatever it takes, go to such extreme measures that would no doubt hurt her, and in turn, hurt him. He couldn't take it, couldn't handle the thought of her hurt without him. He was a klutz, he couldn't give her comforting words, just a shoulder to cry on, but even then, he wouldn't be there for that either. He couldn't take it.

"_Bolin_, please!" Korra's voice broke through him even though it was quiet, trying not to draw attention. He gasped and clung to Korra, digging his nails into her back without meaning to hurt her, but he needed her to save him. "It's okay, you're okay," she kept murmuring, cradling his head in her hands, and how did him trying to help her turn around and land on him?

"You—you're hurt—what am I—guh!" he fell limp against her grip and wiped his eyes uselessly. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, what am I doing?"

"Hey, it's okay," Korra looked at him with a smile, her hand twirling the hair at his neck in her fingers. "I didn't know that would hurt. I should've asked. Are you okay?"

He nodded and buried his head in the crook of her neck. He took slow breaths, inhale, count to five, exhale, count to ten. He felt himself stop shaking slightly and closed his eyes.

"I was so scared," he whispered without really knowing what he meant. He was scared to go to jail, scared at not knowing what would happen to her. Scared when he saw her lying limp over Naga. Scared when she wouldn't take the medicine and Mako had to settle for arguing with Tenzin over it. He was scared in general lately, even if he didn't show it.

"That makes two of us," he heard her laugh shakily. He lifted his head and gazed at her. She gave him a lopsided grin, her cheek and forehead covered with bandages, her wrist wrapped in gauze. When he was this close, he could see how obviously broken she was.

"You don't have to be scared, you're okay now,"

"You too, Bo," she laid her head on his shoulder this time, pulling him closer. "Mm, tell Mako to lay off, your shoulder is much comfier."

He laughed, a real laugh, and traced circles on her back. This time, when the silence took over, it was comforting. There was something special about not having to say anything, just to be there for her, and her for him, and anybody talking, not just him and his useless wit, would ruin it.

"How did Aang do it?" he heard her barely whisper a few minutes later. He had closed his eyes, memorizing the feeling of her holding onto him. "He was so young and it was almost effortless. Why can't I be like that?"

"You can't try to change yourself. You haven't even mastered airbending yet, which is understandably hard, so other things will be hard too. You just need to practice. We know you can do it."

"Bolin, you didn't see Tarrlok, you don't know what it was like—"

"I did," he admitted reluctantly. The experience was as bad as facing Amon himself. It was such an odd feeling, not being in control of your own body. It was unnatural. It was terrifying.

"Oh, no, did he hurt you? Are you all right?" her fingers roamed over his shoulders and his chest, poking him to get a reaction. He chuckled and took her fingers, placing his lips to each one hesitantly, his eyes never leaving hers. She watched her fingers, took hold of his gaze, pressed into his touch before taking hold of his chin lightly, pulling his lips closer to her own.

She shut her eyes almost instantly, but he kept his open, kept watching her as if she were the greatest thing he'd ever known. And she was. She was the best person Bolin would come by, not because she was good at waterbending and could help them win tournament after tournament, not because she was a good fighter and she could save him from danger any time, any place. She was fun and energetic and never failed to make him happy. She didn't realize it, but she was his hero. Republic City's hero, yes, but, even more his on a personal level.

Her grip tightened as it fell to his shirt, bundling the fabric up to catch hold, to pull him closer. His hands rubbed gently at her back and only then did he shut his eyes. She worked her way up, fingers grasping fabric, skin, hair. Her breath caught as he nipped at her bottom lip, quickly grazing with his lips. She pulled him back and opened her eyes slowly and he could've melted right under her gaze.

"I'll be here for you, even if you don't need me."

Korra cocked her head and looked at him as if he was an unknown species under a microscope. Her fingers were nothing but gentle against his skin, despite the hard work they endured.

"I'll always need you," with one arm slung over his shoulder, she used the other to poke him in the nose.

Bolin heard a loud snort and gripped Korra back just in time before the windows smashed open, glass raining down everywhere. They gasped, her head buried underneath his arm, until they felt something fluffy.

"Naga, bad girl!" Mako cried as he pulled her around and her tail slipped through the open space. He turned himself around on her saddle and peaked inside at them dejectedly. "Oh, look what you did!"

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**AN**: I'M NOT SMART ENOUGH TO HAVE CREATED SOMETHING AS GENIUS AS BORRA OR LOK IN GENERAL SO I OWN NOTHING


End file.
